The South Bayview Bulldog

Health Canada has approved the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in Canada, CBC News has learned. Health officials will announce the approval at a media briefing today at 10 a.m. ET, multiple sources with knowledge of the approval confirmed. The U.S. health-care giant’s vaccine is the fourth to be approved in Canada. CBC

The directors, trustees and friends of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital are hoping for a big finish to their 2021 Capes for Kids campaign. It runs until March 7. Capes for Kids has raised over $2,450,000 for research, education, and care at Holland Bloorview. To date, thousands have joined forces by assembling teams, fundraising and wearing capes around the City. If you can help, visit the Capes for Kids site.

Plates removed/HRPS

Brake fluid empty/HRPS

Bald as a billiard ball/HRPS

Halton Region Police have tweeted pictures of a pickup truck with no working brakes, an empty brake fluid container and two bald tires. It is said that the parking brake was completely inoperative. The truck had its plates removed and was towed away.

951B Greenwood Ave

East York’s somewhat legendary beat-up garage at 951B Greenwood Ave is now listed for sale at $729,000. The garage was seen here on The Bulldog in 2019 when it was listed for nearly $600,000. Bubble or no bubble it seems this old dump and its sliver of land is sheer gold.

“Eskimo Fish” among apparently hurtful Dr. Seuss images

Eskimo Fish

The National Post has published what it says are some of the images that are responsible for the end of six Dr.Seuss books announced yesterday.

Delivery man saves child in 12 storey fall

A truly breathtaking scenario is played out in the video seen here as a delivery man manages to break the fall of an infant who has fallen 12 floors in Vietnam.

A man living in the basement of a home on Mayberry Rd near Sheppard Ave and Jane St shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday has died. He was 54. Other occupants escaped.

Take a moment as you wait to be vaccinated and send a quiet thank you to the man who ended repression in the Soviet Union. That would be Mikhail Gorbachev. He turned 90 this week. Then, Dutch sex workers want to jump back into bed with customers. But the Netherlands government thinks that particular Dutch treat still poses a C-19 risk. Below that, the OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique talks with Melanie Ng about the government’s new efforts to stop illicit tow truck activity. Lastly, Kim Jung-un lives in his own world as he scolds his generals about self-discipline while he smokes a cigarette.

Vaccination in Toronto will be slower than elsewhere in the province because there are simply so many people here, Mayor Tory has suggested. Does that sound like a failure to allocate resources? The rationale is contained in this story published by CP24.

Confusion and imminent delay seem to be in charge of the federal government’s duty to get the population, especially seniors, vaccinated on an urgent timetable. The most recent dithering arises from a little-known body called the National Advisory Committee on Immunization. It is said to be an advisor to Health Canada and Monday it said that none of the whacking great 500,000 dose shipment of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine should be given to people 65 and over. Does that make sense?

No time to be picky

The vaccine has shown good results and recently has been rated as 82 percent effective in stopping the virus. As well, Oxford-Astrazeneca has almost complete effectiveness in beating back the worst symptoms of C-19. In that regard, it is apparently better than the Johnson & Johnson vaccine just approved in the US. But this seems like no time to be picky. Sickness and death continue to roll on and doctors across the globe urgently recommend that the vulnerable take any vaccine — and take it as soon as possible.

• AstraZeneca doses set to arrive Wednesday — but questions remain about who gets them first
• Hard data “clearly vindicates” UK approach as France approves Oxford for over-65s
• Dr. Fauci on J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine: ‘I would have no hesitancy whatsoever to take it’

Encampment fire slows, blocks traffic at Parliament and Bloor/zabby@zabbygal

Toronto Fire Service knocked down a 6 a.m. homeless encampment fire near Bloor East and Parliament St. Tuesday. Such fires are now a common phenomenon in Canada’s largest City. No one was hurt in the blaze although fire officials are quoted as saying the blaze was “massive”. As can be seen in the hi-rise photo taken by zabby@zabbygal from the southwest corner, police are pushing traffic away from Bloor St. westbound.

The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission says it is still waiting for the Sudbury winner of $70 million last weekend to come forward. CBC

The publisher of the Dr Seuss books has decided to cancel their publication because of on-going criticism of racist images. Over the years, the Seuss books have seen changes to the illustrations but for unstated reasons, it seems that the specified books can’t be saved. CTV